Kaon Weak Decays in Chiral Theories

The ten nonleptonic weak decays $K \to 2\pi$, $K \to 3\pi$, $K_L \to 2\gamma$, $K_S \to 2\gamma$, $K_L \to \pi^\circ 2\gamma$, are predicted for a chiral pole model based on the linear sigma model theory which automatically satisfies the partial conservation of axial current (PCAC) hypothesis. These predictions, agreeing with data to the 5% level and containing no or at most one free parameter, are compared with the results of chiral perturbation theory (ChPT). The latter ChPT approach to one-loop level is known to contain at least four free parameters and then predicts a $K_L \to \pi^\circ \gamma\gamma$ rate which is 60% shy of the experimental value. This suggests that ChPT is an unsatisfactory approach towards predicting kaon weak decays.Comment: 12 pages, 8 eps figure

Interpreting Attoclock Measurements of Tunnelling Times

Resolving in time the dynamics of light absorption by atoms and molecules, and the electronic rearrangement this induces, is among the most challenging goals of attosecond spectroscopy. The attoclock is an elegant approach to this problem, which encodes ionization times in the strong-field regime. However, the accurate reconstruction of these times from experimental data presents a formidable theoretical challenge. Here, we solve this problem by combining analytical theory with ab-initio numerical simulations. We apply our theory to numerical attoclock experiments on the hydrogen atom to extract ionization time delays and analyse their nature. Strong field ionization is often viewed as optical tunnelling through the barrier created by the field and the core potential. We show that, in the hydrogen atom, optical tunnelling is instantaneous. By calibrating the attoclock using the hydrogen atom, our method opens the way to identify possible delays associated with multielectron dynamics during strong-field ionization.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures, 3 appendixe